Back to Mine with Thor

1. Primal Scream feat. Denise Johnson – Don’t Fight, Feel It – Creation Records, 1991

This track has elements from House, Blues, Dub, Rock and Acid House squeezed into one song.. It reminds me a lot of the “Second Summer of Love” in the UK . I remember playing this song at a big rave in Iceland when everyone was expecting me to actually play Drum & Bass that evening, I did not care because in my mind this was the new sound I was trying to preach to everyone to listen to. That’s why this song makes it to my list.

Primal Scream - Don't Fight It, Feel It (Scat Mix)

2. The Orb – Little Fluffy Clouds (Cumulonimbus Mix by Pal Joey) – PolyGram Records, Inc., New York, 1990

The band has always been one of my favourite ambient bands and Alex Paterson is one of my all-time musical heroes. This track always works great to start the evening with and has this amazing old school “real” deep house style that reminds my of early work from Larry Heard.

The Orb - Little Fluffy Clouds [Cumulonimbus Mix]

3. Boogie Down Productions – My Philosophy – Jive, 1988

From 1985 to 1988 I was very much into Rap and HipHop Music, and I could say that my favourite Rap release from this time was “Boogie Down Productions – By All Means Necessary”
I got this release on a cassette in the summer of 88, that summer I moved to Paris to work as an assistant photographer. I remember that I almost played this cassette exclusively for the entire summer. The track is raw, funky and has some seriously hardcore lyrics. I can´t say I listen to much rap these days but I´d choose the Old School Rap anytime over this so called “New Auto-Tune-Rap-Stuff” that is so popular today ..

Boogie Down Productions - My Philosophy (Official HD Video)

4. Art of Noise – Art of noise Who’s Afraid (Of the Art of Noise) – ZTT, 1984

I got this release as a gift from my parents when I was 12 years old and must say I got hooked. Art of Noise is an incredible band and their unique music style with all their crazy sampling was very much ahead of its time. I think this release is the one that had the most effect on me, in becoming an artist.
 
 

Who's Afraid Of the Art of Noise

5. Acen – Close Your Eyes (Vitamin E Mix) – Production House, 1991

This song is absolutely one of the highlights from the rave scene and had been the nr. 1 track for 10 weeks on the charts of the Radio show I was hosting on Icelandic Radio. The show was called “The B-Side” and I was doing it with my friend Agzilla (Metalheadz).
I remember buying this 12” vinyl in London at the time and I mostly liked to listen to it slower, on half speed.

Acen - Close Your Eyes (Vitamin E Mix)

6. Adonis – We’re Rocking Down The House – Trax Records, 1986

One of my first experiences with the label Trax Records. This is a true epic Acid House release and one of those tracks I still like to play today. Even though it´s from the year 1986 I always relate it to the „Second Summer of Love“. The TB-303 bassline in this extremely funky. 

7. Basic Channel – Quadrant Dub II – Basic Channel, 1994

I remember playing this track for the first time in Heaven in London in 1994 and getting a really good reaction from the people. It has been said many times but I am one of those who believe that the Basic Channel and the Maurizio imprint is responsible for bringing us the Dub Techno sound as we know it. You can say that Basic Channel also gave me the inspiration to start my label Thule Records.

Basic Channel - Quadrant Dub II [full lenght]

8. Tullio De Piscopo – Stop Bajon – Bagaria Records, 1984

12 year old digging through record in a record shop in Mallorca I found this release, bought it and felt in love. This song always reminds me  of the vibe from Herb Alpert’s fantastic album „Rise“ from 1979.

Tulio De Piscopo - Stop Bajon Original 12 inch Version 1984

9. Cold – Strobe Light Network – Thule Records, 1995

This track is by my friend Isar Logi and was released in 1995 and marked the beginning of my record label. I have many good memories from this track and one of them is listening to Sven Väth who played it as the last track of the Loveparade in Berlin 1996. 

Cold - Strobe Light Network (original)

11. LFO – LFO (Leeds Warehouse Mix) – Warp Records, 1990

In the middle of the Rave/Drum´N´Base scene in the 1990s this amazing Bleep Techno track showed up out of nowhere and had a huge impact on me. This is an early Warp release and it’s still one of the best that they have released. This track has some serious deep bass and nice Techno rhythms that makes everybody wanna dance.

LFO - LFO (Leeds warehouse mix)

Various Artists – Æ9 (Æ Recordings)

First up is Sanasol, aka Aðalsteinn Guðmundsson and Thorhallur Skulason, a pair of artists with a big discography under many different names and influences as diverse as dub, pop, techno and minimal. Here they serve up a long lost remix made for GusGus back in 2002: there has been loud demand for this one to appear on vinyl so the waiting is now no more. It’s a balearic, tasteful house track with old school vibes and soul infused vocals that will make it a regular in key DJ sets this season. The B-side finds Æ Recordings label head Skulason going solo under his Thor alias. ‘Black’ starts with a minimalistic and dubby mood that slowly casts its spell, getting you in a trance with its wet hits and cavernous grooves that exude real class and
atmosphere. Last of all, Sanasol serve up a timeless dub techno remix of the Icelandic electronica wizard Biogen. This warm, rich, immersive piece first saw release back in 1997 but is as vital today as ever.

Out now… Various Artists – Æ9 (Æ Recordings) Cat No: Æ09 Format: vinyl